I don’t understand the mindset of cheating to win.
Pete Rose cheated and he was banned from baseball, even the Hall of Fame.
Professional athletes who are proven to have taken performance enhancing drugs are disqualified and scorned.
There are very strict test cheating rules in college.
Yet politicians whose party machinery habitually cheats to win are rewarded with a place at the public trough and perpetual re-election.
Where and when do so many people learn that it’s perfectly acceptable, even admirable to cheat to win?
"The ends justify the means." Success is measured by outcome, not by the path taken. That message is reinforced by most aspects of society; from education, to playground, to media messages, to business. Intellectual dishonesty is the tool of choice for politicians. "Nice guys finish last" isn't just a trite saying, it's the truth.
In a nutshell, the country has rejected moral compass.